begin again | jack hughes

chapter three

do I really see what's in her mind? each time I think I'm close to knowing, she keeps on growing, slipping through my fingers all the time — ABBA

flashback

Bailey Cameron — Age 5
March 17, 2006
Third Person POV

-

"You're gonna wake Bailey up. Katherine, would you please just listen to me?"

"Listen to what? You getting on my ass about some job I quit a week ago? And Bailey's fine, she's a deep sleeper."

"No, she's—Okay. But can we please talk about the job? You didn't even tell me you quit. Or them, for that matter. They called me today and say you haven't showed up since last Tuesday."

"So?"

"So, the world doesn't revolve around you! This is the third job that you've either walked out on with no warning, or been fired by, in the past month and a half. And they all said—"

"Whatever they said was a lie. Isaac, are you really gonna believe strangers over me?"

"No—I don't know. Maybe. What they said seemed pretty accurate given how you've been lately."

"Oh, seriously? That's a bunch of bull, and you know it!"

"Stop yelling, please."

"I'm not yelling! You know what? I'm not doing this with you. I'm out of here."

And just like that, the storm had passed. Even if it'd be back tomorrow at about nine in the morning to ask what was for breakfast.

Bailey wasn't a deep sleeper at all, actually. She'd been up since her dad tucked her in about an hour ago, listening to them argue about things she was too young to understand.

And honestly, she didn't know how to react to her mother's behavior. She'd lived with it every day of her life so far, and it had become a normality to her. With age, she'd learn to walk on eggshells around her mother, and avoid sensitive topics that really shouldn't have been sensitive and eventually learn that what she'd considered normal really wasn't normal at all. But she was still just a kid.

Although, she was old enough to pick up on her dad's grief. To some extent, at least.

So she quietly made her way out of bed and into the kitchen, where Isaac was staring at something on his phone.

"Dad?"

His head snapped up and to the clock on the wall that read 11:00PM, then to his daughter. "Hey kiddo, what're you doing up?"

"I heard you and Mommy fighting. Then I got hungry."

Isaac sighed. He was ashamed of himself for even engaging with his wife when she got like that, and this was one of the consequences. He just wished he could protect Bailey from all of this a little bit better than he had so far.

"Okay, well, what were you thinking? We've got some fruit snacks in the pantry."

"No," Bailey shook her head, a sly smile creeping onto her face. Her smile was one that could light up a whole town, and Isaac was grateful for that when he felt his lips curve up, despite the events that had happened minutes earlier. "Hamburger helper!"

Leaning down, Isaac scooped Bailey up in his arms and let her sit on the counter like he knew she liked to do. "I just made that for you the other night, silly!"